


For the Wrong Reasons

by dreamfleet, mezmerize



Series: The Bachelorette in Space [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, The Bachelorette (TV)
Genre: A cliche airport scene, F/M, M/M, Pining, Socially acceptable polyamory, The second Bachelorette crossover no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 05:34:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14909322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamfleet/pseuds/dreamfleet, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mezmerize/pseuds/mezmerize
Summary: Finn Williams and Poe Dameron are contestants on this season of the Bachelorette. They and 26 other men vie for the attention of the beautiful, successful, and eligible Rose Tico.However, as the weeks progress, their connection with each other may be stronger than their connections with Rose...





	For the Wrong Reasons

That went pretty well, Poe thinks with a small smile as he snags a glass of champagne from the tray in the middle. It’s his first one—he’s not trying to get smashed on the first night like some people here—and after the talk he had with Rose, Poe thinks he’s earned it. He definitely wasn’t expecting to like Rose as much as he did: this whole thing was kind of a whim, followed through on because Poe is at something like a turning point in his life and isn’t sure where to go from here.

Reality TV seems like as good a path as any, for now.

He flops down onto the ostentatious couch next to the only other person on it, a nervous-looking guy in a dark purple collared shirt, and flashes a smile. Poe vaguely remembers his entry: sweet, with a nervous hug and an earnest compliment. “That’s an amazing look, man.”

The man looks at him, surprised, and then smiles, “thanks. I appreciate that. I, I feel like I’m standing out too much.”

He’s pretty. Prettier than most of the people here, for sure. Poe shifts around a little bit to face him. The light blue bow tie he’s wearing really sets off his dark skin. “Isn’t the point to stand out a lil bit, be remembered?”

The man opens his mouth, then shuts it again, ducking his head. “Yeah, you’re right. Um. What was your name again?”

Pressing his half-empty glass onto the coffee table, Poe holds out a hand. “Poe. You’re…” he thinks back to the cast list that he definitely wasn’t supposed to see, searching for this man’s face. “Finn, right?”

“Yeah,” Finn shakes his hand with a gentle smile. “It’s good to meet you, Poe.”

His handshake is firm and warm and Poe has to smile at it, squeezing Finn’s hand just a bit. “D’you not wanna stand out?”

“It’s just, I dunno. I want Rose to notice me, but everyone else is just, just,” he shakes his head slightly. “Well. Have you had a chance to talk to Rose yet?”

“Just now,” Poe says with a little smile. “It was nice. She’s cool. Everyone else is just pissed they didn’t think of showing off their arms like that.”

Finn shoots him another soft smile, “she is pretty cool. I need to, to go talk to her.” He has a sweet smile. Poe can see him making it through. He thinks Rose would like Finn based on their small conversation.

“Go, man,” he says, and reaches over to nudge at Finn’s arm. It is a very, very nice arm. Firm. Poe grins. “Seize the moment, you know?”

“Yeah. Yeah! Okay. Thanks, Poe,” Finn’s fingers curl up around Poe’s forearm. He squeezes it, stands up straight, and tosses back the rest of his champagne. “Seriously. Most guys are fighting for time and you’re being so nice.”

Poe tears his eyes away from Finn’s lips and meets his eyes. “No point in being an asshole. We’re all here to embarrass ourselves and say dumb shit in front of Rose and the cameras, right? Ask her about her dog. We had a good talk about that.”

“I just might,” Finn flashes him one more smile before he walks out of the room. Poe can’t make himself ignore the fact that Finn’s ass looks damn good in his slacks.

It’s not at all surprising that Finn has the longest conversation with Rose and subsequently gets the first impression rose. He comes back into the room beaming with the flower pinned neatly to his lapel.

With groans echoing around them, Poe pushes himself up from his seat on the couch where he’s been trying to get from chicken-costume guy (Barry) why the hell he decided to wear a chicken costume. So far he has no real answer. Poe isn’t giving up, but he’s glad for the distracting.

Snagging his second glass of champagne, Poe makes his way over to Finn. Poor guy’s got goosebumps from the cool night air: Rose has been outside most of the time. Poe doesn’t blame her. This house is a lot.

“Congrats, buddy,” he says quietly.

“Thanks,” Finn tells him, still beaming. “She is so great. Really great. I just, wow.”

“Right? A total sweetheart,” Poe agrees. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a producer move closer with a camera. “You’re frozen, man.”

“Oh, I’m okay,” Finn says even as his teeth chatter. “Mostly.”

“Uh-huh,” Poe says. Candlelight flickers on Finn’s skin. Poe bites down on a smile. “You know Rose moved the rose ceremony outside, right?”

“Oh no,” Finn breathes, huddling in on himself. “I should have eaten more, but I was too nervous.”

Poe nudges him again, smiling. “But she liked the shirt, right?”

“She did. Said she really doesn’t like dressing fancily. But damn she looks good in that dress,” Finn breathes, and shifts closer to Poe. Poe can almost feel his body heat.

He can definitely feel the shivering.

Poor guy. He doesn’t deserve to suffer for his avant-garde fashion choices. “Here,” Poe shrugs out of his jacket and holds it out. “Put this on.” It’s black, so it’ll hopefully set off his shirt even more.

Finn’s eyes are on him again, wide and dark and so soft. “What? No, no, Poe. Keep your coat.”

“I have long sleeves,” Poe pushes it toward him again. “C’mon. Just for a bit so you can warm up. I think they’re about to stage us for the ceremony.”

Finn stares at him for another second, then smiles and nods. “Okay. Thanks, really.”

“Anytime.” Poe straightens the collar for him once he has it on, steps back, and grins. “Looks better on you than it did on me.”

“I doubt that,” Finn says as he re-pins the rose and grins, “you’re really cool, Poe. Why, uh, why are you here?”

Poe hums, thinking about what he said in his interviews, to the producers earlier. There are at least three cameras on them right now. “I like fairytale romances,” he says. “And I like the idea of falling so quickly. Do it in my life anyway. May as well come here where it’s encouraged.”

“Yeah? It hasn’t worked out for you?” Finn asks, turning toward Poe. He really does look good in Poe’s jacket, his broad shoulders filling it out.

Maybe the producers’ll let him keep it so he doesn’t freeze. “Nah, but I have hope. Anything can happen. And if I go home tonight, I’ll try again, but…” he nudges at Finn again. “I hope I don’t.” As he’s about to ask why Finn is here, a producer starts to herd them outside to meet Rose and wait for Chris.

“I don’t think you will,” Finn tells him. His hand just brushes Poe’s back as they walk. “You made an impression on me, at least.”

 

* * *

 

“So, you gave him your jacket,” the producer prompts Poe.

He reaches up to push one of the palm fronds away from his head. “You saw how cold he was! Can’t have anybody freezing to death.”

“Tell me about how that happened,” the producer says with a slight smile. “Why’d you do it?”

“I mean,” Poe bites at his lip, “We kinda made friends—he seems really cool—and the poor guy was straight up shivering when he came back in. He was so worried about his shirt and standing out and all that, I just… followed my gut. Wanted to help. It did look really good on him.”

“It doesn’t worry you that you made him look good?” The producer prompts.

“No,” Poe shrugs. “It doesn’t worry me. I know this is supposed to be a competition, kind of, but Rose isn’t picking people based on who looks good in what jacket. I trust her. We have a connection, I think, and if she feels it too then I’ll stick around. And if she feels one with Finn, he’ll stick around. A little warmer.”

“That’s good of you,” the producer smiles at him and nods, “and how did you feel about meeting Rose?”

There’s the line of questioning Poe was expecting. He grins. “She was really cool! I feel like you can’t go into this with expectations but even if I had, she would’ve exceeded them. I have a theory she’s gonna get along with Finn really well, too.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, I like Finn and I like Rose, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t get along,” Poe says with a smile. “I hope she picks both of us.”

The producer gives him a placating smile, like she’s already bored with his answers. “Great. Well, good luck.”

 

* * *

 

“You know,” Poe comes up next to Finn at the poolside, “happy as I am to get the one-on-one, I’m kinda jealous I don’t get to go on the date today.” The sun is high in the sky already, and Poe hasn’t done anything but make breakfast and sit around in front of cameras. LA, apparently, is hot as fuck this time of year, and the mansion is too big to have efficient AC.

“It did look pretty cool,” Finn says, smiling up at him. His sunglasses sit delicately on his nose, his solid chest glistening in the sunlight, green shorts clinging to his thighs under the water. It laps up against his skin in the slight breeze. “But, hey, one-on-ones! At least we get guaranteed time with Rose.”

He’s ridiculously pretty. Poe hasn’t exactly kept it secret that he’s bi—it’s in his bio, for sure—but the producers have definitely been trying to downplay it, and he doesn’t know if any of the other guys know.

Poe didn’t anticipate it being very important, figuring his focus would be on the Bachelorette. Looks like that was wrong.

Oh well. He can be cool.

“But drones,” Poe says, and backs up a few feet. Finn’s at the deeper end of the pool, leaning against the wall. Poe gauges the distance and shouts, “Heads up!”

Finn backs up with a laugh just as Poe leaps in, splashing water everywhere. “Jesus, Poe.”

“I warned you,” Poe says when he comes back up right next to Finn, shaking his head. “You had time to move.”

Finn flicks water off his face, but he’s still smiling. “I did! You just cannonballed it.”

In retort, Poe shoves some water at him, laughing at the offended sound Finn makes.

Finn splashes him back with a bright laugh. The mini splash-war that ensues draws out even more producers than the one who had followed Poe, and soon there are a few of them at the poolside, egging them both on. By the time Poe cedes to a draw, they’re both soaking wet and he’s had to dive to retrieve Finn’s sunglasses from the bottom of the pool.

He pushes them into Finn’s dripping hands with a sheepish smile. “All yours. So, buddy. You asked me. I didn’t ask you: why’re you here?”

“Well,” Finn paddles a few feet toward the wall and leans back against the side of the pool, looking as cool as anything “I mean, it sounds generic, but I really am here to find love. I just, it never happened for me, in my normal life. And my friend Rey, she nominated me for the show, kind of as a joke. But then it worked out.”

Poe follows him with a few strokes, grabbing onto slick warm stone to hang beside him. A slow droplet of water traces its way down Finn’s cheek and drips down into the pool.

“I got nominated as a joke, too,” Poe says, his eyes flicking back up to Finn’s face. “My friends like to tease me. I thought they were joking about the whole thing and… then I got a call saying they wanted to talk to me about the show.”

“Glad we both have shit friends,” Finn pushes off the wall again, sending another wave of water at Poe in his wake. When he turns again, he’s smiling, his feet treading lazily in the water. “So, yeah. I’m here. And Rose is really cool. I, I dunno if I’m totally sold yet, but it could work, with her.”

“Hard to be sold after two weeks,” Poe admits with a quick glance up at the cameras. “I’ve spent more time with you at this point.”

“And how do you feel about me?” Finn teases, leaning in. If they weren’t on a show about competing to marry the same woman, Poe might think that Finn is flirting with him.

Poe lets himself lean in too, just a little bit: enough he can feel the heat of Finn through the cold water. “If you invited me on a one-on-one I’d be into it,” he says with a grin. “You’re pretty cool.”

“You’re pretty cool too,” Finn flicks the water off his sunglasses and puts them back on with a smile.

Poe immediately splashes him again, starting off another small war.

They spend the rest of that day together, lounging in the pool and cooking a leisurely lunch, talking about where they hope they get to go on this season and who else in the house is worth making friends with.

 

* * *

 

Next week, he and Finn both get to go on the group date.

It has them working in teams of two, so of course Poe and Finn find each other, Finn grabbing his hand before Chris even finishes explaining what they’re doing. Finn’s smile is infectious and he leans in and whispers to Poe, “we’re gonna crush this.”

“Oh hell yeah,” Poe murmurs back under the cheers of everyone around them, flashing Finn a quick smile. It’ll be tournament-style, Chris explains, with the winning team getting to face off against Rose and then spend a portion of the evening with her. Poe winces when Chris reveals where. “Except—and I hate to say this—I’m actually trash at most arcade games. You may have to carry this team.”

“Ah, man!” Finn laughs. He drops an arm around Poe’s back in a quick side-hug. “I thought you’d be great at this! You’re such a damn nerd.”

“You give me SNES games and I will hand you a high score every time, but,” Poe shakes his head sadly, “I had a sad, arcade-less childhood. Never got to play ‘em. Except Asteroids. I’m fucking amazing at Asteroids. You got this?”

“We’ve got this,” Finn tells him firmly. “We’re still gonna crush this. Okay?”

“Ooh,” Poe laughs. “Pep talk. Keep going. Tell me how great we’re gonna do.”

“Well, I’m gonna carry our team. I’m great at pinball,” Finn laughs, “and then we’re gonna each get to hang out with Rose.”

Poe pulls back enough to meet his eyes, dropping his hands onto Finn’s shoulders. “Finn Williams, are you a pinball wizard?”

Finn bites his lip to hold back a laugh, then nods firmly. “You know, Poe Dameron, I just might be.”

 

* * *

 

They don’t win, but they do get very close.

Finn pulls Poe into a giant hug, bodies pressed close together. Poe can smell the cologne he put on that morning, something apparently Finn only started doing a week before the show. It’s spicy and warm and makes Poe want to press a little bit closer.

Then Finn starts talking about how bummed he is that they don’t get the extra time with Rose tonight.

The signals he’s getting from this guy are wild.

“So, Pac-Man is not our game. So what! We’ll get them next time,” Finn tells him as he drops his arms. Poe is a little bit cold in his absence.

“On the next arcade-game based group date, you mean?” he asks dryly, meeting Finn’s eyes.

“Yep,” Finn laughs, bright and easy, “and I have a plan, if you’re in.”

“Tell me,” Poe says immediately, glancing at a producer stepping closer. They’ll do anything for the drama. “You know I’m in for plans. Is this plan gonna embarrass me on national television? I’m still in, probably, but I gotta know how my reputation is getting injured before I do it.”

“We’re gonna challenge Rose to a game we’re both a lot better at,” Finn says, grinning wickedly. It makes him look devious and kind of adorable. Poe gets caught up for a second just staring at him, his smile forgotten on his lips, until his brain catches up.

“Oh, fuck yes,” he breathes when the words register. “What game is that?”

“Mario Kart,” Finn says victoriously. “We’ll give her a run for it.”

“In the most thrilling episode of the Bachelorette to date,” Poe says, imitating Chris Harrison’s excited consonants and TV-ready voice, “two gigantic nerds take on our Bachelorette… in a race for her heart!”

Finn snorts a laugh and claps Poe on the back. “You do that way too well.”

“The question is, which of the two of us is better at Mario Kart?”

“I dunno. I’m pretty good,” Finn says teasingly. “There’s really only one way to find out.”

“Right,” Poe squeezes his shoulder. “By kicking your ass at it. Oh, shit, they’re gonna edit that into something terrible, aren’t they?” He flashes a smile at a nearby producer.

“Oh yeah, our bitter rivalry,” Finn shakes his head and winks at that same producer, who blushes and smiles back. “At least we get it out through video games.”

“The healthy way to do it,” Poe agrees, laughing. “No posturing, just digital races. You think she’ll accept?”

“I bet she will,” Finn nods, craning around to look for Rose.

 

* * *

 

She does say yes, and Poe narrowly wins, Rose in second, and Finn trailing behind in fifth after having fallen from first with a blue shell. Finn graciously yields to him with a wink as he leaves the two of them alone with the NES console. The producers are treating it like a mini-date before Rose goes off with the winning team, set up in a back room of the arcade with a squishy couch and flowers they managed to produce from… somewhere. Poe and Finn are probably going to catch some heat for it later, but it was worth it to watch Finn quietly cursing as he fell further and further behind.

“That was close,” Poe tells Rose as he queues up another race. It’s easy, with Rose and Finn both, to forget there are cameras on them recording every movement, or that they’re speaking into tiny mics for someone to edit later. “I dunno if I can keep my record if we go again.”

Rose laughs and picks up her controller again. “Better for me. I almost had you there at the end!”

“I do have to warn you that I’m unbeatable,” Poe says. “Finn didn’t know what he was getting into. This was his idea in the first place.”

“Really?” Rose smiles at him, “how’d you get so unbeatable?”

“Years and years of practice in the world’s toughest training facility: my own living room, with my dad.” He’d forgotten to ask Finn whether this was also a childhood pastime for him. Finn is tight-lipped about his past, even around Rose. “How about you, you grow up playing this too?”

“Oh, yes,” Rose says with a laugh, “me and my sister would have tournaments. It was rare, but I could beat Paige every once in a while.”

“You’ve talked about her before,” Poe says. The controller is loose in his hand, letting Rose drive their choices. “She seems pretty great.”

“She was,” Rose says sadly.

Poe smiles. “Had to be to have you as a sister, huh? What happened?”

“She died, several years ago. In an accident,” Rose says quietly, setting her controller in her lap. The selector blinks over the course onscreen.

Quietly, Poe reaches over to squeeze her shoulder. Rose isn’t huge on touch, which has been a bit of a problem for him so far (Poe lives for touch), but she seems okay with it now. “I’m sorry. I know how hard it is.”

“You do?” she asks, looking shyly up at him, leaning into his hand.

“When I was eight, my mom died,” Poe says. “I thought the world was ending. Took me a long time to get over it.”

“It really did feel like that,” Rose says. After a moment, she shifts closer, leaning into Poe’s side. “I, I don’t think I am totally over it. She was everything.”

“I don’t think you’re ever… gonna get over it, you know? I’m not over mom,” Poe tugs her close. “I think you just learn to live with the world being a little different from there on out, and do your best to remember them.”

“That’s, that’s good advice,” she says quietly. “It is a lot different, without her.”

“How would she feel about this whole thing? The Bachelorette and all?”

“She’d think it was silly. But she’d want me to be happy,” Rose looks up at him, her eyes ringed with red.

“Yeah,” Poe grins, “I think that’s how my mom would feel, too. She’d be laughing at me but also critiquing everything I do to make sure I don’t mess it up.”

“Right?!” Rose laughs, shifting around to face him, arms slipping around his shoulders. “Thanks, Poe. This really makes me feel better. I didn’t know that you… that we had this in common.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Poe squeezes her tight and makes himself ignore the very slight wish that she was a bit bigger and maybe more Finn-shaped. “It’s always good to find someone else who gets it. Makes you feel less alone.”

“Yeah. It’s nice. I appreciate it, Poe,” she smiles softly at him, staring up into his eyes. Then she leans up and presses her lips lightly to his.

It’s their first kiss, three weeks in. He knows he’s one of the last men to kiss her.

Her lips are soft, and there’s at least four cameras on them right now. This was an unsanctioned date, but the producers were all so taken with Finn’s plan that they went with it anyway. They seem to like him. Poe gets it.

Poe should really be thinking about Rose right now, not Finn. He tugs her a bit closer, tilting his head and sinking into the kiss until she pulls away with a flushed grin. “Now I’m gonna get my title back,” she says, and Poe laughs.

 

* * *

 

A week later, they’re flying out to Colorado (finally) and Poe manages to sit next to Finn on the plane so they can make fun of the in-flight movie (a bad rom-com) together. The flight goes very quickly. It turns out Finn is just as into bad rom-coms as Poe is.

They both go on the group date almost as soon as they land and unpack, a fun hike up Pike’s Peak and a friendly competition about who can pick up the most litter along the way, because Rose is a little bit saintly that way. Neither he nor Finn win this time either. They got too distracted talking to each other most of the way, falling behind the main group as they talked about the time Poe got lost with his dad in the jungle and they almost pissed off a jaguar before finding their way home. Something about the way Finn teases him, his laughter spiraling up the mountain, makes Poe’s heart do pointed flips in his chest.

Poe has more fun on that portion of the group date than he does when they get to the set-up lodge at the top with hot tubs and alcohol and testosterone, everyone competing for Rose’s attention. There’s some spat between two of the other guys that just seems pointless. Rose ends up sending one of them home right there: she’s not here for any shit.

Poe can respect that.

But now they have a week to hang out in the mountains while Rose goes on her two one-on-ones, and… Poe is bored as fuck.

“Hey,” Finn’s voice comes from behind him, and there he is hanging over the back of the couch Poe’s attempting to read on. “Busy?”

“Not even a little bit,” Poe says with no small amount of relief, dropping his book. “This is terrible.”

“It looks terrible,” Finn hops over the couch and flops down next to him. “Want to go for a swim? I checked out the pool. It’s kinda sad, but it’s there.”

“Anything’s better than the exploits of the wounded, tragic, oh-so-manly Dick Sleuth,” Poe flashes the cover of the book at Finn so he can take in the gritty cover and distressed title. “I couldn’t make this shit up if I tried.”

Finn laughs, his eyes bright and focused on Poe. “I bet you could. Tell me about Dick, Poe.”

It’s that kind of stuff that has Poe’s mind reeling a little bit. He’s here for Rose, and he’s enjoying time with Rose, but Finn is in his thoughts most of the time these days.

He sucks in a breath and shifts a little closer, letting one knee bump into Finn’s. “I could tell you quite a few things about Dick, Finn. What d’you want to know?”

Finn stifles a giggle and leans in, “I want to know… how hard is it to be a detective, Dick?”

“It’s pretty hard,” Poe breathes. “Harder than anything. And you know what the worst part is?”

“What’s the worst part?” Finn leans on his hand with a small smile. If Poe didn’t know better, he would swear that Finn is flirting.

“That I can’t think of a quality enough dick joke because this book takes itself so seriously,” Poe sighs. “It’s a tragedy.”

“Oh, man,” Finn laughs, then shoves himself up, holding out his hands for Poe. “That’s such a tragedy! Missed opportunity!”

“Isn’t it the saddest thing?” Poe drops his palms into Finn’s hands and lets himself be pulled up off the couch, leaving the book behind. “I’m over it. Let’s go swimming. What’ve you been up to all morning? You disappeared after Rose left.”

“There’s a gym here. God, I missed working out,” Finn sighs. His hand lingers in Poe’s for a moment too long.

“That what you did before you came here?” Poe can still feel the heat of his palms when they separate, lingering on his skin. “Work out all the time?”

“Once a day,” Finn says simply. “It’s just a thing I do. My body has been really hating not having heavy things to pick up.”

“You could pick me up,” Poe says, mostly as a joke. “I’m pretty heavy.”

“We’ll see,” Finn flashes him a grin. It’s the kind of smile that lights up his face and makes Poe’s belly flutter with nerves and excitement all at once. He smiles weakly back and lets his arms drop.

“Do your worst, Williams.”

Finn doesn’t move for a moment, but then his arms are around Poe and he’s lifting him up off the ground.

“Oh,” Poe sucks in a breath, his arms immediately wrapping around Finn’s shoulders. “Holy shit, you were serious.”

“I make good on my gloating,” Finn laughs, spinning him around before gently setting him down. He hovers close to Poe, his eyes flicking to Poe’s lips.

Poe’s never wanted to kiss anyone so badly in his life. Finn’s eyes are dark and full of a familiar heat that Poe’s definitely seen before. His hands are still braced on Poe’s waist.

“It’s not gloating if you’re proved right,” he says, voice low.

Finn looks back up into Poe’s eyes, then he looks around them. There’s no one else there.

Poe can see him swallow, throat bobbing. His fingers clench in Poe’s shirt.

Poe’s always been good at listening to the tiny voice in his head that says fuck it.

He kisses Finn hard and fast, dragging him in close. He can feel more than hear Finn gasp against him.

He almost pulls back, but then Finn’s kissing him harder, his body pressing against Poe’s.

It’s a really, really bad idea. They’re on the one reality show where this is something that could get them both sent home, and Poe really was here in the beginning to see if this could work, with Rose. He likes her. They have a lot in common.

And he has no idea why Finn is here but the man is one of the most genuine people Poe’s ever met. He can’t imagine Finn is here for any other reason but what he’s said: to see what happens.

That doesn’t mean that Poe lets go of him.

Finn’s head tilts and the kiss deepens. His mouth is hot and wet and insistent and it’s clear that this isn’t a mistake. Finn wants this, wants Poe, and he holds on tight. It’s much more intense and much more real than anything Poe has shared with Rose.

“Shit,” Poe gasps when they pull apart, but he kisses Finn again a heartbeat later, fingers digging into his shirt.

Finn presses in, kissing him again and again until they’re both breathless.

“Is this a really,” Poe punctuates the word with another kiss, feeling a little dizzy and a little addicted, “really bad idea?”

“Yes,” Finn breathes, fingers balled in Poe’s shirt. “But I want it. Do you, do you want this?”

“I’ve been thinking about this for two weeks,” Poe presses another kiss to the corner of his mouth, unable to let go. “I want it.”

“What do you say,” Finn murmurs, looking up at him, “to skipping the pool?”

Poe kisses him hard in answer.

 

* * *

 

That was definitely a very, very bad idea.

Poe isn’t sure about a lot of things anymore, but he’s definitely sure that fucking one of the other contestants in the middle of filming is not what he’s here to do.

Not that it wasn’t great. Because it was: it was great. Finn is incredible and hot and sweet and has taken up most of Poe’s mental real estate since this damn show started filming, and Poe can’t bring himself to regret any of this.

But he does feel like a damn fraud going on a date with Rose the next week. They’re in Cabo, Mexico, and it’s lovely and tropical and reminds Poe a little bit of home, and he tells Rose that’s why he’s been so damn quiet: because it makes him think of his mom. It’s not entirely a lie, but it’s definitely not the whole truth, and Poe feels gross about it. He hates that he gets the group date rose that day. He doesn’t deserve it. Especially not when, hours before, he’d pressed Finn into a tiny closet in their hotel and kissed him within an inch of his life.

Poe feels bad, but he also isn’t stopping.

The day after his evening with Rose, they’re all let out of the hotel to spend a day at the beach and explore the town (under intense supervision, and with Rose absolutely not present).

“Thank god,” Poe throws his arms up into the air, stretching everything out as the sun shines down.

“Seriously,” Finn groans from next to him, “it feels like we’re in captivity.”

“I have never missed music so much in my damn life. Or walking.” They’re close enough to the beach to walk down to it en masse, and of course the producers have rented out an entire section, closed to the public, for them to enjoy. Poe nudges his shoulder into Finn’s and smiles. “You a beach guy? Want to go on a walk with me?”

“You know I do,” Finn says and he sways closer to Poe. Poe thinks that Finn might take his hand, but then he looks away. “It is beautiful here.”

“Reminds me of home,” Poe says as they walk onto the hot sand. “A little sandier, maybe.”

“Yeah? Guatemala is like this?” Finn asks with a fond smile. He looks good in the sun: those same sunglasses perched on his nose, his skin shining in the bright light.

“Think a lot more trees and a lot more humidity, but… blue water, white sand?” Poe smiles. “Hell yeah. There’s a reason my dad is still there.”

“Yeah? Why aren’t you?” Finn is watching him intently, like he actually cares about the answer.

Something about Finn makes Poe want to open his heart up and spill everything out. He smiles, letting his hand brush Finn’s as they walk. They have to be careful. “Guatemala isn’t… that safe for an openly queer person, and staying in my dad’s little town is pretty boring. What about you? Why’d you leave your hometown?”

“Oh, well. Same reason, sort of. I needed to move on, to live my own life. So I moved to Chicago,” Finn flashes him a bright grin, one that Poe is starting to understand means that Finn isn’t being totally honest with him.

Poe wants to know so much more. He slows his pace a bit so they fall behind the main group heading down toward the towels and volleyball net set up on the beach. Poe bets anything they’re going to set up some kind of Top Gun-style tournament. “How’d you pick Chicago?”

“It’s far away from Florida,” Finn tells him quietly and his fingers brush Poe’s. “And I got into college there.”

That’s a little better. There’s still something under the surface of his voice, but they’re on camera: Poe gets it. “What’d you study?”

“Biology,” Finn says, “what about you? Did you go to college?”

“Physics,” Poe grins. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

“Yeah, science,” Finn says with a laugh, holding up his hand. Laughing, Poe gives him a ringing high-five that draws the attention of another producer.

“Nerd power,” he says, grinning wide. “Although there was definitely a rivalry at my school. Especially in my department.”

“Yeah? Between who?” Finn asks, pointedly ignoring the cameras bearing down on them.

“Biologists and physicists. You know, people’ll find any reason to fight about stuff.” Poe shakes his head. “College wasn’t the hugest deal for me, though—made most of my friends afterwards.”

Finn nods, tucking his hands in his pockets. Poe’s sure that it’s because Finn wants to reach out and touch him. He does whenever they’re alone together. “Yeah; I met my best friend in college, but that’s about it.”

“And then life got kinda crazy and now… I’m on a beach in Cabo surrounded by cameras.” Poe’s hand twitches toward Finn’s before he shoves them into his own pockets, shaking his head. “With you.”

“Yeah,” Finn laughs again and nudging Poe’s shoulder with his own. “Never thought you’d be here, huh?”

Poe snorts and turns to head for the water, a little farther away from the others still. “Who plans for this? Besides maybe Jesse. I get the feeling he totally planned for this.”

“Oh, probably. I definitely didn’t. Getting everything in order to come here was a slog, I’ll tell you that,” Finn follows him, walking in sync like they’ve been friends for years.

It’s only been a few weeks, Poe reminds himself, and lets his shoulder bump slightly into Finn’s. Innocent-looking, hopefully. “Your job is okay with it? Or did you have to quit?

“Unpaid sabatical,” Finn says with a little nod. “Which is pretty great. Hopefully they still want me when this is over. What about yours?”

“Quit,” Poe says with a tiny smile. “Trying to figure out what the hell to do now. This was a good break to figure everything out.”

“Any leads?” Finn asks, eyes flicking over Poe’s face.

They’re by the beach now, the crash of the waves a welcome backdrop to their conversation. Some of the other men are already running over the sand, laughing and tossing a football that one of them brought.

“I don’t enjoy sitting around all day talking,” Poe says dryly, “So probably nothing involving that. I was in the military before. Air Force. And when that ended I had to figure out what else I wanted to do, and I didn’t want it to just be more of the same, you know?”

“How could it be more of the same? What did you do in the Air Force?” Finn asks incredulously.

“Flew planes,” Poe says with a grin. “What else?”

“Of course,” laughing, Finn breaks his stance and throws an arm around Poe’s shoulder. “Okay, so you leave the military and you don’t want to fly anymore. What does Poe Dameron do next?”

Poe lets his arm drop casually around Finn’s ribs. If the touch boundary’s broken, it’s broken, and it’s not like Poe doesn’t do this with a few of the other guys. It’s fine. “That’s the question, buddy. Do I start cooking for people? Become a hermit? Go work for NASA? That’d be legit, but I dunno that they’d take me.”

“Those are your options, huh,” Finn murmurs, “so, which was it?”

“Show up on a reality tv show about finding love and see where life takes me,” Poe squeezes him close for a half-second before letting go. “You do wanna go back to your work when you’re done here?”

“Yeah, probably,” Finn shrugs noncommittally, “I mean, I don’t want to become Instagram famous or anything like that.”

Poe’s heard that tone of voice before. “That sounds like a ringing endorsement if I’ve ever heard one.”

“Oh, yeah. I love selling medical devices,” Finn grimaces, “it’s a great use of my science degree.”

“The passion, the fire, it’s astounding,” Poe says dryly, grinning. “I’m in awe.” He glances back at the producers, who are paying much more attention to the small spat breaking out over the football game. They’re not looking at Finn and Poe.

He drags Finn into a quick hug. “We got a whole beach in front of us, though.”

Finn holds on for a second longer, his eyes soft. “Yeah. Race you to the water.”

Then he’s off, sprinting down the sand.

 

* * *

 

Finn finds him a few nights later.

They’re sharing a room, which probably wasn’t the best idea, but it does let Finn take Poe’s hand as soon as the door shuts, with that soft smile that he reserves for Poe. “Did you have fun yesterday?” he asks.

Poe can’t keep back the grimace at the question. “It was fine. I, uh, couldn’t really focus on Rose as much as I wanted, but,” he shakes his head and tugs Finn a little closer, “it was a good time.”

“Yeah,” Finn nods, an arm slipping around Poe’s waist. “It’s hard, when you’re here.”

It’s easy to forget the rest of the show when Poe is with Finn like this, quiet and soft. There are no mics or cameras or candles around, and Poe lets his head drop forward for a second, resting on Finn’s forehead. “Do you feel… a little bad? Like you’re leading her on?”

Finn’s thumb runs over Poe’s hand, watching him with a small crease between his eyebrows. “I… kind of? But then I think that there are still twelve other men here. And I know I’m not the guy for her.”

“That makes a little too much sense,” Poe mumbles. He’s really just looking for an excuse to lean forward and kiss Finn again. It’s the kind of thing he should be talking to the cameras about with Rose: I can’t stop thinking about that kiss. I just want to see him again. I didn’t think this would happen so fast, even to me.

Except they’re behind a closed door.

Poe pulls him in closer, one hand resting on the back of Finn’s neck. “But she’s missing out on somebody pretty great if you’re not in the mix, buddy. All my hard work from night 1, down the drain.”

“Yeah, and look what that work did,” Finn says, and he drops down to his bed, tugging Poe on top of him. “It just made me want you.” Poe slips down onto his lap, bracing his knees on either side of Finn’s thighs.

“That wasn’t the point. I swear. I was being nice.”

“I know.” Finn says, pushing his fingers into Poe’s hair, “and that’s why it worked.”

“Buzzfeed Exclusive: Bachelorette Candidate Accidentally Seduces Wrong Person,” Poe says dryly. He bends to drop a kiss against Finn’s lips and smiles, wriggling. “Oops.”

“Oops,” Finn repeats with a laugh, pulling him into a deeper kiss.

This is their routine every night. They’ll fall onto either bed, kiss and undress and touch each other and have sex. It’s everything they’re supposed to want with Rose, but it’s Finn, night after night.

Poe should feel much worse about it than he does.

“This shit,” he breathes into Finn’s shoulder probably an hour later, “would make the entire internet blow up. The entire internet. All of it. Every talk show, every blog. Buzzfeed would through a damn fit.”

“Oh, I’ve thought about it,” Finn breathes, his hand stroking lazily over Poe’s bare shoulder. “I don’t think I want that attention. Being on this show is enough.”

“I don’t mind the attention,” Poe admits. “Kinda like it a little bit. Not enough to make a big deal outta this, but… enough the show’s working out for me. Being recognized is fun.”

“You would like that,” Finn laughs, turning to push a messy kiss to the side of Poe’s head.

“For someone who really made himself stand out the first night, you sure hate being in the spotlight,” Poe shoots back. “What’s that about, huh?”

“I just… I like living my life how I want it. The more people looking at me, the harder that gets,” Finn tells him quietly. “I, I spent a lot of my life being forced to live a certain way. I’m not doing that any more, but it’s still hard to live with other peoples’ expectations.”

“Other people’s and your own,” Poe agrees. He pushes a kiss into the hollow of Finn’s throat, lingering there over his pounding pulse. “How were you forced to live?”

Finn is quiet of a long moment, fingers still lazily petting over Poe’s arm. “I grew up with a very strict foster family. They kept me around for a long time, but they… it wasn’t the best environment.”

Poe’s own childhood, spent in the woods with his dad and his mom, was about as loose as childhood can get: long lazy days climbing trees and walking to school.

He noses a little closer. “Expectations are the worst. My parents made an art out of ignoring them. Can’t even imagine.”

“That sounds nice,” Finn murmurs, nosing against Poe’s cheek, “your dad… he’s still around, right?”

“Flouting expectations on his one-man ranch in the jungle,” Poe laughs. “In the same damn house I grew up in.”

“All by himself?” Finn asks.

Poe snorts. He needs to record that incredulous tone and send it to his dad. “He hires seasonal crews to help him out with the orchard, but yeah. All alone.”

“Wow,” Finn murmurs, closing his eyes and pressing close, “I bet he wants you to bring someone home, right?”

“Yeah, but he’s not really concerned about who. Never did care.” He’d probably be thrilled with Finn or Rose, come to think of it.

He wouldn’t be thrilled with Poe going after them both.

“That’s nice,” Finn says, and it’s clear that he’s drifting off to sleep. Poe should move back to his own bed soon, just in case. “I’d like to meet him sometime.”

Poe’s breath escapes him all at once.

Finn said that on the edge of sleep, in that strange place between awake and dreaming where everything you say has truth to it.

Poe is… a little screwed.

 

* * *

 

A week later, they’re in the Black Forest in Germany, hiking up trails dripping with waterfalls and trees older than Poe’s entire family lineage.

They’re down to only ten contestants including him and Finn.

It’s the Bachelorette, so everything is stunningly beautiful. He and Rose go on a one-on-one date where they fly in a tiny plane along the line of the Alps, in and out of clouds and soaring mountain forests. It’s amazing. They laugh the whole time, and she gives him a rose, and Poe grins and kisses her soundly midway through her taking a bite of dinner.

It’s lovely. It’s sweet and good and Poe could see a little bit taking her back to meet his dad.

And then out of nowhere, Poe thinks: Finn would love Kes, too.

Kes would want to cook for him and Finn would critique his form, and

Poe can picture it all.

That night, when Finn kisses him in the hotel room they’re sharing overlooking the forest, Poe pulls away with a tiny sound. Finn follows him, a hand on Poe’s back, concern on his face.

“Poe?”

It feels so right, but Poe—Rose just sent someone home last week who wasn’t here for her, and Poe watched with a sour stomach. “I can’t—I just had a one-on-one, buddy.”

Finn’s hand drops slowly off Poe’s back. “Oh. Okay. How, um. How was it?”

“It was… great. I mean, we flew over the Alps, it was,” Poe hates this, too, talking about the details when half his thoughts on the date itself were about what it would be like with Finn, and what Finn would say about the soaring heights and the waterfalls and the mediocre food they had.

“That sounds great,” Finn murmurs and takes a small step back. “And that’s, that’s really perfect for you.”

“It was,” Poe says lamely, and adds, softer, “but half of it, I wanted to be with you. And I feel… like a dick. For that.”

“Right,” Finn says quietly, “I get that. It’s… it’s hard, doing this. When she doesn’t know.”

Poe nods. “It feels like lying. I can’t lie. Terrible at it. She’s definitely noticed.”

“So,” Finn says, eyes flicking over Poe’s face. His hands are tucked in his pockets, shoulders hunched in. “So, what are you saying?”

Something Poe really doesn’t want to be saying. He sucks in a breath. “I can’t do this while we’re still filming.”

Finn’s gaze drops and his lips purse. “So what does that mean? We wait and see if either of us win? And if we don’t then, then we just. Just what? Start this up again?”

“I don’t know what…” Poe shakes his head. “If I was the Bachelor right now I’d be torn between two final people. I wouldn’t feel right not seeing it through.”

Finn is quiet, still staring somewhere around Poe’s knees. He opens his mouth to say something, then shuts it, then makes a soft sound. “Fuck,” he breathes, turning away from Poe. “Fuck. And this fucking feels like the end of the show. And you choose the other person. Okay. Okay! Fine. I, I should have. I knew this was going to happen, but it. It still fucking sucks.”

Poe’s pretty sure that Finn is crying.

It does feel like the end of the show.

“Finn,” he says, small, then shakes his head. There’s nothing else he can say that will make this better, or make the tears stop stinging at his own eyes. He has no idea what Kes would tell him to do here. “I’m sorry. I can’t do both.”

Finn doesn’t answer right away. He rubs a hand over his face and takes a ragged breath that Poe can hear. “It, it makes sense. I don’t know what I was thinking. This whole thing was just, just stupid.” He spits out the word.

No, Poe wants to say, it was the best thing, but that will only make this worse, and he knows it. All he can do is shake his head. “It wasn’t stupid. It’s—” been keeping Poe’s head on during this ridiculous filming experience, until it became the thing tearing him in two different directions. “Anyway, it’s not what you were thinking. I’m one half of this bargain, buddy. Don’t make this all on you.”

“Yeah, well,” Finn finally looks back at him, eyes red and hurt. “You, you made your decision. Mine was just made for me.”

The words punch Poe right in the gut not for what they say but for what they don’t: that Finn would have picked Poe over Rose.

Poe doesn’t know how to even start tackling that. He sucks in another bracing breath and shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Finn. If you stay too, I won’t get in your way.”

Finn’s lips press together in a tight line, eyes flicking over his face.

“I don’t know,” he says, voice ragged. “I’m, I’m going to sleep on it. Not, not here. I’ll get my stuff.”

“No,” Poe says quickly. “I’m, you stay. I’ll stay next door.”

Finn shakes his head and he’s already moving over to his suitcase and tossing his stuff back into it. “No. You keep the room. I don’t want to be here right now.”

Poe wipes ineffectively at the tears in his eyes and nods, stepping back out of Finn’s way. “Okay.”

It’s quick. After bare minutes, it’s like Finn was never in the room. Even his bed is perfectly made with the quilt tight around the mattress.

The door shuts with a snap behind him.

 

* * *

 

Finn is gone two days later.

Poe saw him come back from the group date, but the day after that his suitcase is rolled out of the suite by one of the producers.

The rumors start to mill through the remaining nine men. Some are grateful: that’s one fewer of them that won’t get a rose this week. The rest are curious, and speculate about what happened, why Finn decided to leave (or why Rose asked him to).

Some of their questions are answered a few hours later when there’s a knock on the door and Rose enters their suite with a sheepish smile.

Poe’s nearest to the door, so he stands up to greet her with a tiny half-smile he doesn’t really feel. “Hey, Rose.”

“Hi, Poe,” she says sweetly, “hi, guys. I, um. I have something to talk to you about.”

They all shuffle in and settle on the couches, Rose perched on one of the arms. She doesn’t like to sit properly on any furniture: Poe teased her about it on their last one-on-one. Finn had that in common with her. He loved to perch on the edges of things, never quite settling in.

The cameras are trained on her, and on the mens’ faces. Poe can feel one focused on him. He ignores it, instead watching Rose.

“So, you saw that Finn went home today,” she starts, wringing her hands together. “He came to talk to me, and he said that he wanted to leave.”

It isn’t surprising, but it definitely hurts to hear. Poe’s been terrible in his solo interviews since he and Finn—broke up? Poe hasn’t come up with a word for it, either.

“What happened?” Mason asks in his low voice, his brow knitting in concern. Poe knows he doesn’t mean it—he’s been one of the ones preening about less competition.

“He came to tell me that he, he’s in love with someone. Someone else,” she clarifies unnecessarily. “While I wish he’d told me earlier, at least it was now, before we got too deep into this thing. So… well, it’s just us now!”

Two of the cameras are trained on Poe now. He knows why: he can’t keep the shock jolting down his spine from showing on his face. He sucks in a tight little breath and averts his eyes, knowing it’s going to ruin their shot. They won’t even care. The people on this show feed off raw displays of emotion.

But Finn never brought up love.

“He,” Poe says weakly, coughs, and starts over, “He said he was in love? With someone?”

Rose’s eyes flick to him and she smiles gently. “He did. I guess, you were rooming with him, right? He never mentioned anyone? Anyone else?”

“He never mentioned love,” Poe breathes. His entire body feels electric and jittery.

All he can see is Finn’s red-rimmed eyes, full of hurt.

Poe is an idiot.

“When did he leave?” He asks, too-quick and strange. All eyes are on him now.

Rose frowns, “he talked to me… what? An hour ago?” She glances at one of the producers, Alex, who nods. “Are you okay, Poe?”

“I,” Poe glances at the same producer, now mouthing something to him that Poe can’t make out. Poe’s standing, he realizes only when Rose gasps a bit. “I have to go.”

“Poe?” Rose is on her feet too, confusion painting her expression. The other men start to murmur around them.

He can’t just leave like this, Poe realizes.

Tugging at Rose’s arm, he brings her close enough to murmur, “Can I talk to you? Alone?”

“Yes. Well, as alone as we can get,” she follows him as he leads her out of the room with a frown.

“No alone time ‘til we’re done,” Poe says. It’s a joke he and Finn used to make: untrue, after everything. Poe tugs her down the hall to his own room, trailed by the camera crew and silent, interested producers.

“So,” she says when they’re all finally in the room and the door is half-shut behind him. She’s perched on one bed, Poe on the other. “Poe, what is it?”

“I think it’s me,” Poe says immediately. “Who Finn was talking about. And I… I need to go after him, because I was an idiot. My dad would be pissed.”

“Finn is,” Rose says, then her eyes go wide and she gasps. “Finn is in love with you?! Oh my god.”

The producers behind her look thrilled, and the camera people tune in with heightened interest.

Poe winces. “I really… he hates the spotlight,” he whispers, close to Rose. “He’d hate this. I don’t want this to be some dramatic moment, but we got close and I felt bad and broke it off, but,” he meets her dark eyes, ignoring the tears welling up all over again in his, “he didn’t mention love.”

“It makes sense,” she says quietly, “he’s been… different for the last few weeks. That must have been because of you.”

“Probably,” Poe shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I… really need to go find him.”

“Yes!” Rose says, suddenly on her feet and claps her hands together. “Yes, you have to!”

Poe blinks. “Yeah. Wait, you’re—” but he doesn’t finish the sentence, because yeah, of course Rose is okay with it. She has a stronger connection with probably four of the other people here, and she believes in love as much as Poe does.

“We’re coming with you. A car is our front,” Alex the producer says, a glint in his eye.

“Oh my gosh, can I come too?” Rose asks, turning to look at him.

“Long as they’re cool with it,” Poe offers her a small smile. “I’m sorry for lying to you.”

“We can talk about that later,” Rose says, gently brushing his arm, “now we have to catch Finn!”

 

* * *

 

It turns out to be good they have the producers on their side, because Finn’s flight leaves in half an hour and there’s no way Poe would have been able to talk his way through security in German.

“Okay,” Poe whirls around as soon as they’ve been escorted past security, “Finn really isn’t about capturing really private stuff on camera and I know that’s what this whole thing about but there’s no way he’s gonna listen to me if I bring all of you with me.”

“Also,” Alex says, “his flight is boarding.”

“Run, Poe! We’ll be right here,” Rose says with a bright smile.

Poe’s already running. Finn’s at gate 13B and the flight leaves in fifteen minutes and Poe can’t get the word ‘love’ out of his head.

As the runs up, he sees Finn’s signature purple suitcase and the man himself standing in line to board the plane. Just because this is how Poe’s life is now, he’s about two seconds from handing his boarding pass to the flight attendant as Poe calls his name.

Finn turns around with a slight frown, then, as soon as he sees Poe, the takes a step back.

“Sir?” The attendant asks him, but Finn is staring at Poe.

“What are you doing here?”

“Being impulsive and stupid,” Poe breathes, coming to a stop a few feet from him. “You never said anything about love.”

“Sir, can I have your boarding pass?” The attendant asks. Finn glances at her, then steps out of line with a slight shake of his head.

“I’ll be back, uh, Poe,” his frown deepens and he glances over Poe’s face. “What are you talking about?”

Poe’s heart does a tiny weird flip and settles into his throat.

He bites his lip, glances back where the producers have thankfully not followed them, and says, “Rose told us why you left. You told her you were in love with someone else.”

Finn’s face falls and he looks like he did two nights ago, expression sad and crest fallen and not quite meeting Poe’s eyes. “Yeah, that’s-- look, I don’t want to talk about this. You didn’t have to come here. I’m going home, you can keep going and maybe marry Rose. I know that’s what you want.”

“No!” Poe grabs his wrist, breath catching. “I want you to meet my dad.”

“You,” Finn finally looks up at him, and there’re so many conflicting emotions on his eyes. He tugs his hand away for just a moment, then stops, staring at him. “Really?”

If Poe weren’t in the middle of the airport he would tug Finn in for a kiss. He bites at his lip instead, stepping closer, hand sliding down to loosely take Finn’s. “Yeah, really. I was an idiot. All that talk about following my heart, and I let myself get caught up in what I should do.”

Finn watches him, hand tightening around the handle of his suitcase. The one in Poe’s is slack. “So…”

Poe’s heart is still in his throat. He meets Finn’s eyes. “So, I’m in love with you, and I want to go on a one-on-one date with the person I’ve been thinking about this whole time.”

Finn is silent for one long, agonizing moment, then he throws his arms around Poe’s shoulders, bodies colliding, and kisses him hard.

“Oh thank god,” Poe mumbles through the kiss as he drags Finn closer. “I was really worried you were gonna get on the plane.”

Finn kisses him again and again before saying, “well, we still have to get home. Unless, unless you want to enjoy Germany with me?”

“I said I wanted to go on a fancy one-on-one,” Poe murmurs against his lips. “If you’re up for it.”

“Yes,” Finn breathes and presses his face into Poe’s throat, holding him tightly. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I can’t believe I was such an idiot,” Poe kisses the side of his face and then kisses him again, just because he can. “My dad would be ashamed. So would mom. I bet she’s laughing right now.”

Finn looks up at him, meeting his eyes with a watery smile. “I love you,” he says, voice soft and small.

It’s an even bigger punch hearing it straight from Finn. Poe kisses him again, hard and fast. “I love you too.”

Finn makes a soft sound and his smile stretches his lips, “really?”

“Yeah, really,” Poe breathes. “Which is why I’m such an idiot. And—” the shuffle of footsteps gets his attention and he half-turns, still hanging onto Finn. “I told them not to follow me!”

“Oh no,” Finn says, holding tight to Poe’s shoulders. The camera crew is descending on them, Rose with them.

“Just, uh,” Poe moves a little bit in front of him, sliding his hand down Finn’s arm to grasp his hand again. This time, Finn squeezes back. “You want this on TV, or not? ‘Cause I could do something really stupid right now and take all this on me.”

“What are you thinking?” Finn asks on a breath.

“Really public breakup with Rose because I was secretly gay the whole time,” Poe murmurs. “You back away, all attention goes to me.”

“Are you sure?” Finn says, leaning in closer, “that… that won’t look good. And you’re bi, not gay, right?”

“Bi as fuck, yup,” Poe confirms. He squeezes Finn’s hand. “It won’t make me look good, but it’ll keep you outta the spotlight.”

“No,” Finn says and steps up to stand next to him. “No, let’s do this the right way. I’ll, we can do this together.”

“Oh,” Poe says, warmth bubbling in his stomach. “You’re a brave man, Finn Williams.”

Finn takes a deep breath and gives Rose and the camera crew a small flicker of a smile.

 

* * *

 

“That was… actually better than I thought it was gonna turn out,” Poe yanks Finn a bit closer to push a kiss against his head. “Way less tears. Only three completely out-of-context misleads.”

Finn curls against Poe’s side with a soft smile. “Yeah. It wasn’t great, but at least we don’t look like psychopaths.”

“I was a little worried they were gonna spin it like, look at these two lying assholes. I, uh,” Poe grins. “I didn’t realize we were so obvious about it.”

“I guess we were,” Finn laughs, squeezing Poe’s hand tightly as he watches the two of them flirting by the pool at the mansion. “Think they’ll have us on After the Final Rose or the Men Tell All?”

“Knowing Chris?” Poe on screen is currently watching Finn walk onto the date with Rose with something like longing on his face. “Both. Did you know I got a text from Alex earlier?”

“Yeah? What did he say?” Finn asks offhandedly.

Poe grins. “Asked if we wanted to do a special about our relationship.”

“Oh,” Finn says, then slowly pushes himself up to look at Poe. “Oh. Interesting. What’s in it for us?”

“Money, probably?” Poe laughs. “I wouldn’t—I mean, we don’t need it, but… there is a part of me that wants to show you off to the whole world.”

Finn blinks at him, then snorts a laugh and curls closer into his side, “yeah? You wanna show off how lucky you are?”

“Lil bit,” Poe squeezes him close. “I mean, come on. We’re good with Rose, I get to make you dinner and kiss you on the face sometimes, and my dad thought you were better than me. How is that not really lucky?”

Finn shifts up, knees sliding on either side of Poe’s thighs, his fingers pressing into Poe’s hair. “I think you’re pretty lucky. But I’m pretty damn lucky too.”

“Oh, yeah, you have an idiot for your very own now,” Poe breathes against his lips. “Lucky you.”

“Lucky me,” Finn murmurs and takes Poe’s lips in another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, y'all! The second installment in The Bachelorette in Space. 
> 
> Whenever we watch the Bachelor(ette), all we want is gays. So we put them there. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it.


End file.
